Automatic valve for drainage systems.



J. A. HARMAN.

AUTOMATIC VALVE FOR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- I. 1914,

1,23%,Q3U, I Patented July 3, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. A. HARMAN.

AUTOMATIC VALVE FDR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS.

II/IIl/I/IIIIIIIIIll/II/IIIII/IIIIII/llll APPLICATION FILED JAN- 7I914".

Patented July 3, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Inventor Illinois, have invented certain fulImprovements in Automatic Valves for S w er @FMnE JACOB A. HARMAN, 0FFEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 HARMAN ENGINEERING (30., 0F PEORIA,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION WEST VIRGINIA.

AUTOMATIC VALVE FOR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS.

Laeaoao.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July a, ram.

Application filed January 7, 191%. Serial No. 810,762.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, JACOB citizen of the United States, residing atPeoria, in the county of Peoria new and use- Drainage Systems, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an automatic valve for drainagesystems, andhas for its principal object the provision of a valve which will actautomatically to prevent the return of water from the discharge to thesource, and at the same time to operate a valve to break the vacuum inthe pumping y m- A further object is the provision of a valve mounted soas to ride freely on the fluid being discharged and conforming in crosssection to part of the discharge pipe so as not to restrict the crosssectional area of the discharge pipe.

A further object is to provide in connection with such a valve, meansfor indicating the approximate amount of water being discharged.

Further objects include the improvement in the various details ofstructure of the valve, themanner of mounting the same, and theconnections with the vacuum breaking valve.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter to be defined in appear, my invention consists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter describedand then sought the appended claims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings forming a parthereof and which show forillustrative purposes a preferred embodiment of my invention, it beingunderstood however that various clianges may be made in practice withinthe scope of the claims without digressing from my inventive idea.

In the drawings:- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a part of apumping system showing the automatic valve and the vacuum breakingvalve,

parts being broken away and other parts being shown in dotted lines, forthe purpose of facilitating disclosure;

2 is a sectionta'ken substantially on F1 line i-A of Fig. 1;

A. HARMAN,

and State of i ing the pumping system Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe valve casing, and cover therefor;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the automatic valve, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the application system.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view showing the use of an indicating means inconnection with the valve.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout thefigures.

in pumping systems, and particularly drainage systems where itfrequently happens that the water of the river on the dis charge side ofthe levee is at a higher level than the water in the district side ofthe levee, it has been found that the water will flow back through thesystem when the motor stops, the system operating as a siphon. If thevacuum under which this system is operating remains unbroken on thestopping of the motor, the water would flow through the system, causingthe pump to act as a water Wheel, possibly resulting in material damageto the system and also in the return of the water into the district. Itis the object of this invention to prevent such accidents and toautomatically cut off the discharge pipe, and at the same time break thevacuum in the system. This is done by providing a valve in the dischargepipe which is open when the pump is discharging water from the districtinto the river, and

normal non-pumping condition. This is especially necessary when there isno operator in charge of the plant.

This invention relates to the'same art as my copending application filedJanuary 7th 1914, Serial Number 810,761, which application discloses andclaims means for primpreliminary to the pumping application.

Referring nowto the drawings, and to Fig. in particular, the numeral 1designates the levee separating the district from the river or otherplace of discharge. 2 designates the discharge pipe which com- 5municates with pump 3, indicated diagrammatically as a centrifugal pump,and 4 designates the suction pipe extending from the pump tothe water inthe drainage district The vacuum, or exhaust pump, indicated at 5, isused for priming the system, having the connections 6, 7 and 8 as shown,with valves for controlling the same,

. In systems of this character, it sometimes happens that the pump stopsand the water flows backward throughthe discharge pipe,

pump and suction pipe, running the pump as a water-wheel to the possibledamage of the system, and also resulting in the discharge of water intothe drainage district.

This is due to the difference in level and pressure of the water in thedrainage district and in the river. It is the principal purpose of thisinvention to obviate the possibility of this happening, and I attainthat result by providing an automatic valve in the discharge pipe.

This valve is designated by the reference character 10, and, as shown,conforms in cross section to the upper portion of the v discharge pipe.

Secured to the end of this valve are the hangers, or brackets 11 whichare apertured as at 12 to receive the shaft 13 which is mounted in thecasing 14: having the air-- 5 tight cover 15. It is to be noted that thevalve 10 covers the opening from the casing into the pipe. The shaft 13passes out through stufing box 16, and has lever 17 secured to the outerend thereof. This lever 7 4 is connected by means of link 18 to theoperating handle 19 which is pivoted by means of link 20 to the casingof valve 21, the

' valve stem 22 of which has jpivotal connection 23 with the operatinghandle. The link 18 has a slot 18 in the end thereof, in which pin 19 ofoperating handle 19 fits. This loose connection is provided "so that thevalve 10 may have a slight movement without afi'ectingor operating valve21. The

link 18 may be entirely disconnected from lever 19 at this point so thatvalve 21 may' beset by hand. By means of this connec' tion, when thevalve 10 is closed, the valve 21 will be opened, breaking the vacuum 55in the pump system so that the water cannot siphon back. Should themotor stop,

and the water from the river 'or other place of discharge start to flowback through the pipes into the district, the valve .10 willautomatically drop, closing thedischarge pipe 2 and opening the valve21, as previously described.

Means is provided for holding the valve 10 in its open position, saidmeans including a lockingbar or'latch 24 having the extended bearingportion or lug 25 "at its end adapted 'to engage and act asa stop forthe lever 17. The lockingbar or latch 24.-is slidably mounted in strapsor guides 26 on the outside of cover 15.

When the operator is on duty the valve may be locked open so'as toobviate any re sistance to the discharge of thewater and theformation ofany eddies and consequentreduction in maximum efliciency in the system.However, when no operator 1s on duty and the PIOVlSlOIl for automaticcontrol is necessary, the lock or latch is with-. drawn so that thevalve may act as de-- pipe is being utilized or whether, due to theexistence of pockets of air in said pipe, the maximum efliciency in thesystem has not been reached. The valve 10 previously described forms asimple means of indicating the size of the column of water flowingthrough the discharge pipe and by having a connection therewith can bemade to indicate to the operator whether or not the discharge pipe isbeing utilized to its complete capacity. Referring to Fig. 6 of thedrawings, I disclose an indicating finger or pointer 27 secured to thevalve shaft 13 so as to move therewith, the end of the finger or pointermoving over suitable designations which will be visible indications tothe operator of the condition ,in' reference to size'of the column ofdischarge water. Of course, it is-to be understood that this disclosureof the indicating means is illus-' trative merely, and that variousother forms of devices may be utilized for the same purpose. Should theindicator show the operator that the full capacity of the pipe is notbeing utilized, he can start the exhaust or vacuum pipe operating toremove the air pocket from the discharge pipe and permit the fullcapacity of that pipeto be utilized for the purpose of conveying thedischarged water. By eliminating the air from the pipes of the system,friction head loss is obviated and. also the loss in .efficiency due tosudden changes in the velocity of the water. I

What claim is 1. In a drainage pumping system, a pump for drawing waterfrom the district side of a levee and forcing it into the river on thedischarge side of the levee; a gravity actuated valve for preventingback flow and siphoning of the water through the system upon thestopping of the pump; a vacuum breaking valve in the system adapted whenoperated to place the pump and system in a non-pumping condition, andmeans for automatically and simultaneously operating said vacuumbreaking valve, upon closing of said gravity valve.

2. In a drainage pumping system, a pump for drawing water from thedistrict side of a levee and forcing it into the river on the dischargeside of the levee; a gravity actuthe pump with the discharge side of thelevee, a valve for the dischar e pipe, a vacuum breaking valve forcontro ing the operation of the pump, said vacuum breaking valve beingcontrolled by said valve in the discharge pipe.

4. In a drainage pumping system, a pum a gravity actuated valve forcontrolling t e flow of water from the pump, a vacuum breaking valve forcontrolling the vacuum under which the system operates, and connectionsbetween said gravity actuated valve and said vacuum breaking valve,whereby said vacuum breaking valve is operated upon the closing of saidgravity actuated valve.

5.-.In a pumping system including a pump, a suction pipe and a dischargepipe, a valve in said discharge pipe, a vacuum controlling valve in saidsystem, and connections between said first mentioned valve and saidvacuum controlling valve whereby when said first mentioned valve isclosed said vacuum controlling valve will be actuated to break thevacuum in the system.

6. In a pumping system including a pump, a suction pipe and a dischargepipe, a valve in said discharge pipe, a vacuum controlling valve in saidsystem, and connections between said first mentioned valve and saidvacuum controlling valve whereby when said first mentioned valve isclosed, said vacuum controlling valve'will be actuated to break thevacuum in the system and means for locking said first mentioned valve inits open position.

7. In a drainage system, in combination with the pump, suction pipe anddischarge pipe, a casing secured to said discharge pipe, a flap valvepivotally mounted in said casing to serve as a cut-ofi' in saiddischarge pipe being free to ride on the discharge water, said valvecorresponding in cross sectional conformation to part of said dischar 'epipe so as not to restrict the area of t e discharge pipe, said valvebeing adapted to cover said casing when in its open position, preventingthe formation of e dies.

8. In a drainage system, in combination with a pump, suction pipe anddischarge pipe, a cut-off valve in said discharge pipe adapted toprevent a return flow of the water back through the system, a vacuumcontrolling valve in said system, a lever arm or member connected tosaid first mentioned valve and having a link connection with the stem ofsaid second mentioned valve whereby when said first mentioned valve isclosed, said second mentioned valve will be opened to break the vacuumin the system.

9. In a drainage pumping system, in combination with a pump, suctionpipe and discharge pipe circular in cross-section, a flap valvepivotally mounted in said discharge pipe with its pivot end toward thepump, so

that the valve will ride freely on the discharged water, said valvebeing curved to conform in cross-section to part of the discharge pipe,a vacuum controlling valve and connections between said flap valve andsaid vacuum controlling valve, said connections including a leverconnected to said vacuum controlling valve, a link connected to saidfirst mentioned valve, said link having a loose connection with saidlever, so as to permit said flap valve to fluctuate with the flow ofdischarge water without operating the vacuum controlling valve.

10. In combination with a pipe, a casing forming an offset portion in"the pipe, a valve pivotally mounted in said casing and adapted to rideon the fluid being discharged through said pipe, said valve conformingin cross-section to part of the pipe and adapted to cover the openingfrom said easing into the pipe when in its extreme open position, w'ereby the effective cross sectional area of the pipe is not decreasedand the formation of eddies and air pockets prevented.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witneses.

' JACOB A. i i

N. Witrfiasses: N

' DWABD ir m:

Howm 0. once.

